The on-line museum of North America's independent department stores. The museum holds all sorts of information about classic department stores which either no longer exist, or are changed beyond recognition. A few of them are still with us, and provide an interesting connection to North America's retail past. The others are presented so that they may be properly remembered as a tangible part of the lives of their customers, shopping destinations where memories were often made.

The May Company, Los Angeles, California

In 1930, the May Co depicted its store in a verymodern way, but it erroneously showed theoriginal Hamburger's building as six stories.

A different newspaper image was more truthful, ifless stylistic.

The May Co's terra-cotta façades were a familiar part of abustling downtown Los Angeles shopping district.

This image of the May Co store shows the store'sfive- story frontage on 8th street, and the 1924 and1929 additions on Hill Street.

The immense May Co store as seen from Broadway;the 10-story 1929 addition which stretched acrossthe south side of the store from Hill street, can beseen on the left.

104 comments:

Several corrections to state: the Orange store originally opened as Walker-Scott (of San Diego) in 1970, and sold to May Co. in 1974. The Oxnard store opened in 1970, Sherman Oaks in 1980, and Palos Verdes in 1981. A store in Mission Viejo, which has identical architecture to the Thousand Oaks store opened in 1979 before La Jolla. Also, the Cerritos store was just a small apparel-only store called "The Fashion Place" at Los Cerritos Center. Its previous occupant was a branch of the San Francisco-based Roos-Atkins fashion store, which pulled out of the Southern California market about two years after opening here.

Thank you, Randy for the information. I really appreciate clarity on these items; from time to time, I only have sketchy information, or I make an error. So I have made the corrections you have offered.

I will cover the Orange store with Walker Scott, when that becomes possible.

Soon, I will be adding The Broadway. It is difficult to determine a store layout for The Broadway in downtown LA; I had to look at ads from the forties to determine how the departments were located in the store, and extrapolate from there; then I found an end-of-the-month sale ad indicating that by the time it was closed in the early 1970s, it was down to 3 floors and a home-furnishings basement.

I'd appreciate it if you could proof the exhibit for me when I post it.

I obtain the stores' opening dates from newspaper archives, including the Los Angels Times and Chicago Tribune (same ownership) from the dept. stores of those respective cities. Do you plan to do an exhibit of Wieboldt's from Chicago?

I worked for the Oxnard May Co, around the time it was becoming Rob-May, it was sad to see the name change and the whole environment changed as well. I also had the opportunity to close down the Wilshire Blvd May Co, that was quite an experience for me being in the original May dept store.

Dear Sirs,My father, Faustino Lastra, recorded at your "downtown store" some poems in two small records on April 22, 1946 and the problem is that the said records are so damaged by age that their contents cannot be listed to at all.Would there be a way to find the master recording for these poems and send them to me in Spain (in a pen drive for instance). My father passed away many years ago and this would be the only opportunity to keep a sample of his voice in our family records.I would really appeciate what you could do for me on this occasion.Yours sincerely,José Luis Lastra.My Email address: jllastra9@gmail.comMadrid, Spain.

Can somebody tell me if there was a May store or Warehouse in downtown Los Angeles on Broadway that had candy making equipment. Around 1976 or 1977, the candy making equipment was sold to the Magic Fruit and Nut Company.

Michael there was a candy counter on the first floor of the May Co on Broadway. It is quite possible that there was candy making at the May Company itself also. I have a booklet circa 1908 titled "History of Hamburger's and Facts About the Great White Store" that lists a candy making factory on the sixth floor. Hamburgers was the Department store in that building before the May Company. BAK if you would like a copy of this in PDF form I'd be happy to send it on to you.

Michael, they had a full candy kitchen at their Service Building on the corner of Jefferson and Grand on the 5th floor of the 46 building. When I first Started there in '72 it was in full operation,by the end '76 is was already dismantled. Sad to see it leave.

Back in 1980, when I was a supervisor for the company-owned Hickory Farms of Ohio specialty food stores, we took advantage of the Christmas shopping season by negotiating with mall and department store managers for space to erect merchandised "kiosks" to sell product and take orders for shipping. I'll never forget my dealings with the downtown May Co.! It took much effort to convince the store manager that our little kiosks did quite well in these settings, and that we would bring to their customers a very popular seasonal gift option. After much negotiating, financially and otherwise, and after obtaining all the many permits required by the city and state, we were "allowed" to construct only 1/2 of our modular unit in a small space--so as not to take up much room. I had to trudge the unit into the closed store on a Saturday night and completely merchandise it for Sunday opening. I must say that unloading a van in the middle of the pulsating downtown area on a saturday night was quite interesting, and making my way through the cavernous and very dark department store was kind of creepy. The real kicker was that the kiosk did such a brisk business, that the management demanded that we come back on the following Saturday night and erect the second section of the kiosk and bring much more merchandise! I got to experience the whole thing a second time--not to mention getting to tear it down after New Year's. We both did well that season and got to do it every year until the big store finally, along with the other downtown shopping palaces, passed into history. Shopping today just doesn't have the same feeling that it once did. Thanks for this lovely site to revive old memories!

The Wilshire store had the stunning gold "turret" on the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire. So Moderne! The Tea Room was all pink with huge white chandeliers. Sadly, when I would visit there in the 80's, there would be hardly any other customers.

By the way there was a very cool store directly across the street--Ohrbach's. I remember, as a kid, seeing credits at the end of some TV shows: "fashions by Ohrbach's." They used to spell their name, in the 80's, as "Oh!rbach's'. Do you remember that?

Feeling very nostalgic, and for some reason Googled MayCo Los Angeles. Happily came across this site. During the late 1960's and up until Christmas of 1972, we (my mother, brother, sister, and I) would take the number 4 bus east on Olympic to Hill Street, and Christmas shop at MayCo downtown, and at the other department stores as well. I seem to recall that Bullock's downtown had a fairly spectacular animated Christmas window display as well. Mall-shopping just doesn't measure up.

The stores were both divisions of the same May Company. When the May Co. bought The Hecht Co., the May Co. store took the name of the Hecht-May Co. until it became the main Hecht Co. store. It still stands in Baltimore.

Do you know anything about a murder that was committed in the restaurant in the May Co. building on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles? Someone mentioned it to me today, but I had never heard of that.... do they mean Bullock's?

So happy to see this website regarding May Company in downtown Los Angeles. I have for years been trying to find out about the delicious bakery on the street floor. As I remember as a kid it was facing towards the esclator heading down and next to the womens shoe department. They had the most delicious sprinkle cookies and the cute box with dots made it more memorable. Any info, Greatly appreciated:0

I worked for the May Dept. Stores after High School Graduation in 1955. I remember being hired at Xmas time as an extra employee and from that I landed a job as a full-time employee. I went into the Management training program or as it was called a Junior Executive position. I worked at the May Co. Crenshaw store until after I married and started a family. I managed the Ivy League Shop for awhile and then Men's Furnishings. $50.00 a week was not cutting it for me so I had to quit and make changes. I must say I made friends there that I still know to this very day. I loved working for the company and seeing the many stars that shopped in the store.

I worked for The Fountain Pen Shop in Downtown L. A. and we were able to contract the pen repairs for all the May Co. stores. The person I had to contact was the Stationery Department Buyer, her name was Tessie Goldwater, and she was a real "Bear". But we got along well, and had a very long relationship with the May Co.

When I was a young child growing up in Montrose Ca. in the 60s & 70s, my mom use to take me to a May Co. somewhere in the Los Angeles area. I think it was attached to a mall. They had an ice skating rink that I would spend the day at while she shopped. I came across your site while telling my wife about the experience. Does anyone by chance know which store that would have been? I have been on the east coast for the last 30 years and cannot for the life of me remember which store that was. I do remember a lot of good memories at that store and that ice rink. Does anybody have any ideas?

I just guided my family on a walking tour of Historic Downtown LA. My grandmother used to work at the May Co in the 30s. My mother was wondering where that building was, I wish I had found your website beforehand. This is an incredible collection you have here. Do you have modern pictures of these LA Department stores? It would be great to see, well depressing, to see what they look like now. If you don't I could accomodate, it would be fun!

This is going to sound strange, but I was watching a rerun of the Brady Bunch the other day and it was the episode where Jan had to pay for the silver platter and they ended up singing on an amature show to raise the money for the engraving. In the beginning of the show, they showed a modified version of the May Company store as the department store Jan shopped at.

To Hoss25, the May Company that was attached to the Mall with the Ice Skating Rink was the one on Laurel Canyon in North Hollywood. The mall (and ice skating rink) were torn down after the Northridge earthquake. But the May Company building is still there, it is a Macy's now. It's a giant building but comparatively, very little of it is devoted to selling floor space.

Thank you for the info! I was wondering what had happened to it. I could not remember which location it was actually at. That would certainly make sense since we were living in North Hollywood at the time I believe . Of course I was a very small child then and memories fade...

What an interesting site! I am a theatrical costumer. I have a very dilapidated ladies hat from circa 1919. The lining says "Hamburgers, Los Angeles" beautifully embroidered in a vivid blue. Always curious re history, I just Googled Hamburgers and found this terrific site. Anyone have any info to impart or memories to share possibly re the 1920's or earlier years of the store?

I am doing the research for a book on a 1926 beauty contest that was held in Galveston, TX. One of the participants later went to work for May and Co. in Los Angeles in the 1940's.Does anyone know if the company records were preserved? I also have several photos of her that were taken at the store and bear "The May Co. Los Angeles" embossing on them.

Anonymous25 May, 2017 16:05Hi, I wonder if you could help. I heard a rumor that there was a flood in the May Co building, downtown Los Angeles, sometime during the 1970's and sharks were supposedly swimming in the basement. Is there any truth to this?

There are no records of this or of a flood in the May Building in the 1970's. It is used as 'evidence' of a prophecy made 15- 20 years earlier however no evidence exist. The full prophecy is that part of Los Angeles will fall into the sea. This has been reduced over the years to a flood with sharks in the May building.

When we lived in Los Angeles, as a little girl our clothes shopping was at May Co, Crenshaw. Our Christmas shopping was alway a thrill because there was the "hugest" lighted Santa Claus and reindeer attached to the side of the building...It was spectaclular and my sister and I LOVED going there during Christmas season.I have a vintage Christmas box 5"x2-1/2"x2-3/4"DI'll bet there are no others. I'd like to know what, if any,it's worth? Write back to janie@wwdb.org

Another poster mentioned that the last May Company to open as a "new" store was Moreno Valley in 1992.

I believe the last "new" store to open as May Company was the location in Santa Clarita, located in the newly opened (at the time) Valencia Town Center.

The Santa Clarita location opened in September 1992. The location was expanded once as Robinsons-May, and expanded again as Macy's.

As far as new built from the ground up locations, Temecula (as Robinsons-May) opened in August 1999, and in 2002, Irvine opened as a "test" location with a smaller two story format. Irvine was the last "new" Robinsons-May location to open before Macy's acquired the chain.

OMG...How could have I forgotten those two locations? Ironically, I'm in Simi Valley slutting around frequently and pass by the location often. I must have had too much alcohol at that late hour as I wrote my thoughts, and the brain waves were asleep...lol

Can you tell me what happened to the beautiful women's bathroom on the second floor of the Downtown Los Angeles location? The first floor is an abomination with swap meet stalls. Please tell me that art deco gem is still in tact.

Just came across this great site while Googling my old hang out Fox Hills Mall. Besides waiting for the bus outside of May Co my mom and I frequently shopped their, and at The Broadway too. I have a deep-rooted fascination with L.A. history and my dream is to open a museum and research center(ala The Getty Center) dedicated to every single person, place and thing that helped make L.A.

Hello, thank you for the great site and shared memories. I, too, have fond memories shopping with my grandmother, her sister, my mother and cousins- when it was appropriate to "dress for downtown" complete with patent-leather shoes, gloves, and hair- and we would literally spend an entire day there. I feel exceptionally fortunate to still use a bedroom set purchased by my great-great grandmother, with original "May Co 1905" labels still on their backs. I know that she had the set shipped to her to San Bernardino, California, but don't know from where. I also wish that there was a May Co Museum. Thanks again, Karen H.

I am 60. When I was about 8 or 9 years old my mother did not drive, but she took me to downtown Los Angeles from Los Feliz often on the MTA bus to all the department stores. She would leave me with the two kindly gentlemen that had the stamp and coin concession in May Co. I spent many an hour looking through the shoe box full of foreign coins, and making my small purchase, listening to them speak of geography, history, and art.

Thank you for sharing that memory. I find it fascinating, and it speaks of the nature of our lives when you and I were growing up. These gentlemen were kind and trustworthy, and you were open-minded enough to receive the knowledge they were willing to share. It was, sadly, another and vastly different era, one we'd do well to examine for its good qualities, unfortunately (for humanity) lost in the fog of .time.- Bruce

Dear sir, where can I get information on old pictures that came from the Pictures & Mirror Dear sir, where can I get information on old pictures that came from the Pictures & Mirror Dept., Third Floor. Circled, written number on back: 3617. Painter, not sure. PHA? Beautiful scenery: landscape, trees with running stream, sunset. Church and little house in background . Where can I find information? Could you help? Sincerely, Fawn

I worked for May Co. for 23 years, first in stock and sales in the Laurel Plaza store #5 and then after the executive training classes as an Operations manager in their Riverside store and then as Manager of their Methods & Systems department in the Downtown location. Really enjoyed this site.

Beginning research on the May Company's Famous Barr store. Specifically, the Southtown branch, which opened in August of 1951 in St Louis Mo. It was the second branch store and was designed by Noel Leslie Flint. The store closed in the summer of 1992 and demolition began in November of 1994. l spent the first 40 years of my life- literally within the shadows of the quaint essential structure that towered over the intersection of Kingshighway & Chippewa in the southwest sector of the city. Met an employee there that became my wife and began building my collection of 45rpm hits out the 3rd floor record department. Even "gained access" to the abandoned structure before it came down. From it's rounded façade, laced in smooth sandstone- like a cigar band above the main entrance- to those gleaming display counters and the aromas that drifted over the midways it was a shopping experience like none other. Any help or guidance regarding in-depth research efforts would be greatly appreciated.MIKE

For those who may not be aware, the May Co Wilshire location was purchased by the LA Co. Museum of Art (which it adjoins) several years ago. LACMA sold it to the Motion Picture Academy, which is completely re-doing the interior to create the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, scheduled to open in 2017. Currently there is a joint costume exhibit with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on the ground floor, to run through early March 2015. I attended yesterday and recommend it. I grew up shopping in various May Co stores, and remember shopping at this one several times before it closed. Nice to know the building will have a great future, still tied to the history of Los Angeles.

Where they are known, the names of the restaurants in branch department stores are listed below their picture in italic. The original name of the Whittier Restaurant was The Terrace Room. It may have been changed in a renovation later, but that was the original name as advertised in the newspaper at the time of opening. - Bruce

I have a history with the May Company/Downtown Los Angeles. My father, Richard Bleistine Faranow (1924-1984) was first in advertising after WWII, left to work in Michigan for the L.H. Fields Company, and then returned to the May Company L.A. in 1956 where he worked until 1965 as a Buyer of Women's Daytime Dresses in the basement. I literally grew up in that store. He took me to work with him and I would sit all day and amuse myself with a typewriter, pretending that I could type. He would take me on breaks to the Jewish deli across the street and I would visit with his cronies and became very comfortable in that environment. I would say that I wanted to work for the May Company when I grew up. After high school graduation in 1970, my first full time job was indeed working for the May Company as a typist in the credit department where I started in August of 1970. After three months, I was moved to the Bank Check department, where we processed returned checks. I even went to court as a representative for the store on a collection case at the ripe old age of 18! The following May, I was promoted to Secretary and worked on the mezzanine in Corporate Personnel. The office was right next to the snack bar/fountain, outside the Tea Room. I worked for Ann J. Williamson, in charge of Special Programs, and Larry C. Davis, the Wage and Salary Administrator. It was a wonderful environment: lunches in the Tea Room made by Chef Christian Rasmussen; Seeing the store decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving; Watching people stampede up the escalators at month end sales. There was positively everything in that store: an engraver, tobacco shop, millinery shop, jewelry, juice bar, shoe repair, appliances, toys, furniture - there was no need to shop elsewhere! I transferred to the Voucher Office which handled the part time pool of "floaters" during the Christmas season 1972. The store would send 400 people to training, and those that failed out of training would be paid off in little cash packets that came from payroll on the 2nd floor. In February of 1973, I was being promoted to Employment Manager at the Arcadia Store when another opportunity came my way that was closer to home, more money, more benefits....all sounded good, but it was a disaster from day one. I eventually went to work in local government, where I retired from after 25 years of full time work. I remember my time at the May Company, both as a child and as an employee, with the greatest affection. The window displays at Christmas were positively magical. I was also there during the 1971 earthquake, and the damage to the store was significant. Older elevators were uncovered and elevator operators were once again employed. Employees used the back staircase, and the wall between the second and third floor was completely gone! Most of the picture windows were covered over following the earthquake. Again, the May Company was a big part of my young life and I miss it dearly. Marie Faranow Delgadillo, Diamond Bar, Ca

Before my graduation from the University of Washington in 1973, I interviewed with a Mr. Parker from the MayCo Executive Personnel Department. It was the first time that the MayCo had held interviews at the UofW. I was the first one selected for their Executive Training Program. The MayCo flew me down to Los Angeles for an additional meeting and eventually mailed me a formal letter offering me a position as an Executive Trainee.

I moved to Anaheim, California, just a few blocks away from the Buena Park, MayCo store. I was assigned to the huge, Lakewood MayCo store. I worked in the women's RTW area and Mrs. Dorothy Hopper was my training supervisor.

After 6 months of training I received a raise and was promoted to the position of Department Manager. I was the only male ready to wear manager in the entire Los Angeles Division. As I recall there were 31 stores at the time. It was fantastic being the only male manager! I was then promoted to Assistant Shoe Buyer and then to Assistant Buyer in the Ladies Sportswear Division. As I recall, the Los Angeles Division of the MayCo at that time was generating approximately $379 million in sales at that time.

My fondest memories of the MayCo are the great people that I worked with. The stores were beautiful. The retail training was excellent. The MayCo prepared me for a very successful retail and wholesale future. It was a great time in my life.

may company had an art gallery on the 3rd floor on Crenshaw and king. Their were photos of an Indiana tribe. I swear the queen/chief looked like my grand mother. At that time I could not get a sales person up stair and just let it went I wish I would have took the picture to the cashier. Those were the good old day.

I am seeking information regarding photographs (of individuals) or photo studio at The May Co. Los Angeles. Would the negatives have been archived somewhere? Destroyed?? I'm actually just trying to date an older family photo and there is a letter & numbers (in pencil) on the back of the photo with stamped instructions to mention them when reordering. It also says the negative of this photograph will be kept on file [with The May Co. Los Angeles, Calif] I'm guessing photo to be circa early 1940's...; but actually hoping it is dated much earlier than that. It would be an awesome find if I can date this pic to 1923/24. (Probably only wishful thinking, I'm fighting what I already believe is a 1940's photograph)

An earlier commenter asked about a murder at one of the May Co. stores, and I remember it very well. It was in 1989. An elderly man shot his wife, and then himself in the fifth floor restaurant. The wife was with her card-playing friends (poker, canasta, bridge, whatever.) I was told by a friend policeman who was among the first to answer the call that the couple were recently separated. He approached the table, asked if she would take him back. She said "no" and he shot her, then himself. There's an old L.A.Times article that briefly confirms the facts of this story.http://articles.latimes.com/1989-06-21/news/mn-2605_1_elderly-man-shot-mid-wilshire-shot-several-times

Santa Barbara, Calif. has what may have been a 60s May Co. store:In 2012 I was up there (hometown of Katy Perry and YouTuber Miranda Sings!) and what looked like a 60s May Co. a la the examples shown was there, same inside. Honolulu Hawaii which I visited in 2009, 2012 and 2013 via cruise ship also had an apparent former May Co,60s store. Architecture gave it away.:) No sites mention it.....(All of these were through cruising by ship)

I am not aware of a May Co store in either location, and I have searched the LA Times far and wide to get an accurate list of stores up until 1980. Liberty House of Hawaii had a large store in the Ala Moana center that could pass for one of the May Co's 1960s stores, and that is probably what you saw. Santa Barbara is more difficult to explain; perhaps it was the same architect designing for another company?-Bruce.

Or maybe Santa Barba had a sister store of May Co. as probaly Hawaii did...anyway..maybe it WAS the same designer. Albert C.Martin Co. designed so many of those great May Co.stores in each era...and the Bakersfield Broadway store illustrated on the Broadway entry of this site looks a lot like the era's May.Co stores.

Here in Whittier, home of the August 1965-1987 May Co. and the Broadway, 1961, at Whittwood which still stands now as a Sears, uptown there is a Streamline-Modern parking garage which looks a lot like the Wishire and a few other May Co.'s stores I went in and out of the bathroom and on the builders plaque WHO should I see but A.C.Martin and Co. I KNEW there was a reason that the parking garage (just north of Philadelphia) resembled a 1940-1952 May.Co.!

When I was a kid, in the early '70's, my dad used to go to the May Company in downtown L.A. It had a book department. My brothers and I received many books, but the ones I remember best were a very thick compilation of fairy tales, nursery rhymes, children's poetry, and fables; and another, similar (probably same publisher) with sections on insects, reptiles, mammals, dog and cat breeds, world languages. Neither my older brother nor I ever forgot those books (we wore them out, alas), and we often wish we could replace them, but have no idea of the publisher. Did The May Company have their own publishing house? I recently discovered fairy tale illustrations by Walter Crane, and I recognized some of them as being included in my book.

Really, the best I can do is to put it out there in case someone else remembers them. I assume you have tried amazon and ebay searches for the genre: I have had a lot of success acquiring old books I had in the past. Good luck!- Bruce

What a discovery! Thank you, Bruce, for this website! Such memories! I worked for May Co.--first Whittier, then Costa Mesa, then opened Fox Hills (as part of the original department management staff), and finally downtown in the buying offices--from 1972 to 1977. And shopped at MOST of the others. It was sad to see the decline in the quality of the shopping experience as sales staffs were cut from the levels of the mid-70s. I opened Men's Sportwear at Fox Hills with a staff of 8 or 9 regular staffers, and was glad to move to the buying offices a couple of years later when my sales had grown significantly, but my staff had been cut in half, with "floaters" staffing the floor much of the time. Of course, this was happening everywhere, and today it's unusual to find much if any knowledgeable staff at any of the current dept. stores. Self-sevice all the way! I love being reminded of the good old days at stores like May Co., Bullock's and Robinson's!

I don't see any reference to the May Co. that opened in late 1989 at the Northridge Fashion Center on southwest wing of the mall. Also a Robinson's had opened on the northwest wing of the mall as well. Later on they were rebranded to Robinsons-May and eventually consolidated into one store in the southwest location; which is now the Macy's Men's and Home store.

This website is a blast from the past .... as a former buying exec for May from from Jan 1986 thru the last day of the May Dept Stores July 31, 2006. My first store opening ...Store 37 Escondido until the end.....good people for the most part. So Cal dept stores have gone by the way of the dinosaur.

I know that the Wiltshire/Fairfax store opened in 1939, but when did the expansion occur that gave the store additional square footage as they built northward? It must've been sometime in the early 1940s. Anyone know?

Hi, I wonder if you could help. I heard a rumor that there was a flood in the May Co building, downtown Los Angeles, sometime during the 1970's and sharks were supposedly swimming in the basement. Is there any truth to this?

"Hi, I wonder if you could help. I heard a rumor that there was a flood in the May Co building, downtown Los Angeles, sometime during the 1970's and sharks were supposedly swimming in the basement. Is there any truth to this?"

HiI grew up in the San Fernando Valley. We would drive through Laurel or Coldwater Canyon to go shopping at the Wilshire store. (I also remember eating deep fried halibut at Van de Kamps.) We switched to Laurel Plaza when that store opened. I am mainly writing for information on the May Co. Mints. They came in dark or milk chocolate or pastels. They were in a long box about 12” long x 3” wide and 2” high. They were May Company Mints. They chocolate was very thick. So thick, you could eat out the center of the mint and then eat the chocolate! We bought them at least every holiday and my great aunt always had them in her house in Encino. We saved the boxes and used them to store jewelry, etc. Does anyone have the patent for these mints? Can I buy them somewhere? They were the best mint patties I have ever tasted. They were about 1/2” thick.

Your California May Co. stores sound very similar to the ones here inNorthern Ohio. I was fascinated by the Bette Davis film, "The Star,"since that department store looked exactly like the one that openedhere in Lorain, in 1953. The M. O'Neil stores in Akron, were set upexactly as described by this site manager, including the bakery shop.Do I have to tell you how incredible those Bavarian pastries, and freshcream puffs tasted?! They also had a restaurant on the first floor, justbehind the bookshop and bakery. Their b.l.t. club sandwiches, and bananacream pies defied description! Thanks so much for this site, and allowing us to share our memories. Those department stores were a vital part of our lives, and a high point in American culture. Dave

Hello, I stumbled across this forum when doing research on an oil painting from the 1950's created on an old The May Co canvas panel. I now know that the artist purchased it on the 4th floor of one of the Los Angeles area May Company department stores! Reading some of the comments brought back fond memories of my mother taking me to the store in Whittier. She used to buy my clothes there and we used to eat in The Terrace Room restaurant. When I was a senior at La Serna High School I worked as a security guard at The Quad (1979-80) right after they built the enclosed portion of the mall. I happen to be visiting my mom when the earthquake hit at around 7:30-8:00am in 1987. The talk of the town was that it was a blessing that the May Co had closed since employees would have been arriving for work at that time and they had parked their cars in the parking structure which got leveled. One Rio Hondo college student got killed if my memory serves me correctly. The Quad is nothing like it used to be...now it's just a strip mall with no anchor stores...and, of course, there's a Starbuck's there.

HELLO ...I FOUND A SMALL GIFT WRAPPING AND BOX ..THE TOP AND BOTTOM AND THE TOP WITH THE LABEL "BULLOCK'S. IT HAS SOME CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS ....WOULD ANYONE KNOW IF HAVING THE BOX INTACT AND THE ORNAMENTS BE WORTH ANYTHING AT ALL.....THANKS

In 1971, I became an Executive Trainee at the San Diego May Company.In 1972, I opened the El Cajon store as the Department Manager of Towels, Bedding, Linen, Draperies, and The Bath Shop.In 1974, I became an Assistant Buyer in Towels & Linen in the big downtown Corporate store on Hill Street.In 1975, I became the Divisional Sales Manager of Household Goods at the Crenshaw store.That is where I met my May Company demise, as I was constantly at odds with the General Manager, and I was in way over my head as a DSM.

At the San Diego store, I picked up the tradition of writing my name on the stock room wall as an Assistant Department Manager. I continued this tradition at the El Cajon store as the first Department Manager. I was fascinated by the labyrinthian corporate headquarters, and I used to spend much of my time exploring the higher floors. I was amazed to find the phone operators working in a little house on the roof. I found seclusion and solitude in the boneyard of mannequins. And I used to have fun racing the elevator down the stairs, leaping from landing to landing, and then watching the shocked looks of those who had entered on the higher floors as they saw me calmly walking by when they exited.

I made some great friends during these years, and it was while trying to track down a few of those that I came across this great site. I remained good friends with my mentor, Harry Cohen (buyer of towels and linen,) who passed away, but I lost track of people like Jim Harrigan, Irene Bowers, and others. If anyone was around back then, I would love to hear from you.

I was a trainer for May Co in the early 80's, eventually supporting every store from Oxnard to Pasadena along the east side of LA. Laurel Plaza had been remade as the "flagship" store in that era; there was still a bomb shelter underneath that store where they stored MREs, blankets, and other emergency supplies in the event of a nuclear attack. The shelter was very well equipped with a small "chapel" as well as a medical room and equipment to provide first aid/conduct examinations. Thanks for this site as it reminded me of the early days of my career. :)

My first job was in 1947 when I was 15 at the May Company on the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire. I worked for a few weeks in the lingerie department. The job didn't last long. I was let go because I lacked a work permit that required I be 16. Two weeks before I turned 16 I was let go. That day I sold more lingerie than anyone else in the department. As I recall I sold about $125 of lingerie. I also recall that my paycheck was all of $3.50 for the 8 hour day. The minimum wage at the time was 50 cents an hour and the pay check reflected deductions for Social Security. For a 15 year old high school student $3.50 was a lot of money but certainly not so good for someone who had to support a family.

About Me

Born in 1958 into an American family with deep Polish roots, I was encouraged at an early age to take education wherever I could get it. I was taken across the country as a child, by my first-generation American parents, to see the wonders of our continent, and several World's Fairs which my parents felt would be educational and fun for our family. All of these things have affected my life in so many ways since then. I achieved a couple of degrees in architecture, and attained licensure in 1990. My specialty in the field is creative design, for which I have received a number of awards and accolades. I am happily married for the second time. I experienced the sadness and pain of being a widower after my first wife passed away suddenly in 1996. I would not be telling the truth if I did not mention how central my Roman Catholic faith was in negotiating such a difficult time. It still is, in fact. I work for Fieldstone A&E and, my free time is spent, learning, researching, writing, cooking, traveling, taking photographs, ballroom dancing, and enjoying my relationship with my wife and family with whom I am extraordinarily close.